Saturday, 31 December 2016

General Dalbir Singh reviews a Gurkha guard of honour before handing over as army chief

By Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 31st Dec 16

Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi, who has
been superseded by General Bipin Rawat as the chief of army staff (COAS) from
the New Year, has announced he will continue in service.

Even as Gen Rawat was ceremonially taking
over charge as army chief on Saturday morning in New Delhi, Bakshi personally addressed
his staff at Headquarters Eastern Command in Kolkata, stating that he would
extend his full support to Rawat.

Bakshi’s address was relayed by videoconference
to other headquarters under his jurisdiction.

Bakshi complimented all the men in Eastern
Command for their commitment and service and urged them to join him in continuing
their good work.

Following the government’s announcement on
December 17 that Rawat would succeed the outgoing chief, General Dalbir Singh
Suhag, speculation had been rife that the two generals who Rawat would be
superseding --- Bakshi and Lieutenant General PM Hariz who heads Southern
Command --- would be resigning from service.

Defence ministry sources put out the
rationale that Rawat, an infantry officer, had greater experience in handling
counter-insurgency operations than Bakshi, who is from the armoured corps and
well-versed in mechanised warfare.

It is an unwritten military tradition for
senior generals to resign when a junior supersedes them for the post of army
chief (though not for lesser posts). When General Arun Vaidya superseded his
senior, Lieutenant General SK Sinha as COAS in 1983, Sinha promptly submitted
his resignation.

In this case, however, Bakshi is understood
to have been assured by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar that the process was
under way to appoint him as India’s first tri-service commander, a post that
would, at least nominally, place him senior to Rawat.

This assurance was apparently conveyed when
Bakshi met Parrikar in his office on December 21.

Parrikar, as well as Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, have publicly committed to appointing a tri-service commander.

Clearing this post has been a difficult process;
with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) bureaucracy steadfastly opposed
the announcement of a five-star chief of defence staff (CDS), who would be
senior even to the cabinet secretary, the top bureaucrat.

The compromise solution being worked
through the system involves creating the four-star post of “permanent chairman
chiefs of staff” (PCCOS), which the Naresh Chandra Task Force had proposed in
2013. This would be a fourth four-star general, in addition to the existing
chiefs of the army, navy and air force. The PCCOS appointment would require
cabinet clearance.

The PCCOS is spoken of as a “first amongst
equals” with the three service chiefs. However, at least for the present, the
three service chiefs would have clear fiefdoms while the PCCOS would only be a
an upgraded version of the three-star officer who currently heads the
Integrated Defence Staff, handling perspective planning, and tri-service issues
of equipment and manpower structuring.

Appointing Bakshi as PCCOS would involve
the delicate matter of leap-frogging him above Admiral Sunil Lanba, the current
navy chief, who is senior to Bakshi. Lanba is currently the Chairman, Chiefs of
Staff Committee, which includes the three service chiefs.

Furthermore, it is unclear what time lines
the government is working on for clearing the appointment of the first PCCOS,
or precisely what assurances have been given to Bakshi. Speaking on television
on Friday, Parrikar stated that he would put up a proposal to the PM in
January, who would then take a decision.

Bakshi is due to retire in the normal
course in July 2017. In case the government is unable to clear the PCCOS post
by then, it would fall to another officer.

Prakash, and several navy chiefs who followed
him, continued backing the Naval Tejas with funds and personnel, even as the
Indian Air Force (IAF) dragged its feet.

Now, ironically, the navy has turned its
back on the Tejas, even as the IAF has backed the Tejas with orders for 103
fighters.

Although Balaji is now a commodore and the
head of ADA, the admirals have insisted since April that they want to buy 57
foreign fighters instead of the Tejas. These will equip two current aircraft
carriers: INS Vikramaditya, purchased from Russia, and INS Vikrant, nearing
completion at Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL).

On Navy Day earlier this month, navy chief,
Admiral Sunil Lanba publicly announced that the Tejas would not meet the navy’s
requirements.

Business Standard learns that the navy
wants ADA to develop a carrier deck version of the Advanced Medium Combat
Aircraft (AMCA), an indigenous, twin-engine, fifth-generation, stealth fighter
that is unlikely to enter service before 2030.

This inexplicable volte-face by the last
two navy chiefs --- Admiral RK Dhowan who retired in May and Admiral Sunil
Lanba who succeeded him --- opens the doors for two global vendors: Boeing,
which is offering its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet; and Dassault, which has already
sold 36 Rafale fighters to the IAF.

Unexplained by the navy is the future role
of its 45 MiG-29K/KUB fighters, which India paid over $2 billion for, and which
were to equip the Vikramaditya and Vikrant, with 22-24 fighters on each.

Nor is it clear whether the Rafale and
Super Hornet, which are designed and built to be launched from aircraft
carriers with catapults, are capable of “ski-jump” launches from the two Indian
carriers, neither of which have catapults.

Without catapults, those aircraft will have
to be launched with significantly lower payloads of fuel and weapons, especially
in India’s warmer environment. The navy has done no studies of the compromises
that will be necessary.

With the navy short of answers, Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar has ordered ADA to continue developing the Naval
Tejas.

Balaji confirmed to Business Standard that
the Naval Tejas development was under way. “ADA believes that we have a good
configuration for the LCA Navy Mark II, which will meet the operational
requirements of a deck-based aircraft, as specified in the cabinet clearance in
December 2009.”

The navy, however, is now demanding far
greater capability from the Tejas than what the cabinet clearance of 2009 had
specified. At a defence ministry meeting in August, the admirals cited a
significantly more challenging operational environment.

Meanwhile the two-phase upgrade of the
Naval Tejas continues. In Phase-1, the IAF version of the Tejas Mark I was
modified, at a cost of Rs 1,729 crore, into the Naval Tejas Mark I. This
involved measures like strengthening the undercarriage for landings on carrier
decks and modifying the cockpit to increase pilot visibility. Yet, the Mark I remained
predominantly an air force, rather than a naval, fighter.

ADA intends to customise it into a naval
fighter in Phase-2, which has been allocated Rs 1,921 crore. Like the IAF
version, this will involve comprehensive redesign, including replacing the
current General Electric F-404IN engine with a more powerful F-414 engine. But
other important changes will optimise the fighter for carrier operations. Weight
will be shaved off the undercarriage, which will be accommodated inside a
lengthened wing, freeing up space in the centre fuselage for an additional 700
litres of fuel. This will give the fighter an extra 20-25 minutes of flight
endurance. In addition, the tail hook will be engineered afresh.

The ADA chief has argued forcefully in the
defence ministry, and Parrikar has accepted the need for a step-by-step
approach to naval fighter design, rather than attempting a huge technology jump
by designing a fifth-generation Naval AMCA. They believe that first designing
an optimised naval fighter --- the Naval Tejas Mark II --- would develop
capabilities realistically and incrementally.

Fleet air experts note the US Navy’s
struggle to build the carrier deck version of the Joint Strike Fighter, called
the F-35C. Although America has built carrier deck aircraft for a century, the
technology leap attempted in the F-35 created issues that are still being
resolved.

Wednesday, 28 December 2016

After 18 years of having failed to buy a
towed artillery gun from the global arms market, top army generals are finally
reassured that their most worrying operational shortfall will soon be met from
within India.

This belief comes after a week of
successful “engineering trials” of the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System
(ATAGS), from December 13-20, at the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) ranges
in Balasore, Odisha. Army observers witnessed the trials.

“We are on track in designing and building
an international quality gun through the ATAGS project. If it continues like
this, India will be a major gun supplier in the world market, instead of a
major buyer”, asserts a senior army procurement manager.

The army is usually restrained in its
endorsement of on-going DRDO projects.

So pleased is the ministry of defence that it
has ordered the two existing ATAGS prototypes to be transported post-haste to
New Delhi and displayed in the Republic Day Parade this year.

ATAGS is potentially the DRDO’s biggest indigenous
project, aiming to meet the army’s need for more than 2,000 towed artillery
pieces in the coming decade, generating indigenous manufacture for over Rs
30,000 crore.

Conceived and designed by the DRDO’s
Armament R&D Establishment, Pune (ARDE), the gun is mostly built by two
private firms. The lion’s share has been won by Tata Power (Strategic
Engineering Division), which has built one prototype. The Kalyani Group has
built a second prototype.

Development of the ATAGS system has been
divided into nine “work packages”, with each package competitively tendered
within India. The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) won the tender to manufacture
gun barrels, along with forgings giant, the Kalyani Group.

Other private companies have won roles too.
Mahindra Defence Systems will make the recoil system along with Tata Power SED,
while Punj Lloyd will make the muzzle brake. During full-scale manufacture, an
entire eco-system of smaller Tier-2 and Tier-3 suppliers is expected to come
up.

At first look, ATAGS appears similar to the
Bofors FH-77B – the famous “Bofors gun” that India bought 410 of in the 1980s.
In fact, the ATAGS, a 155-millimetre, 52-calibre gun-howitzer (guns fire at low
angle, howitzers at high angle, while ATAGS does both) is significantly bigger
than the 155-millimetre, 39-calibre Bofors.

155-millimetres is the “bore” of the gun,
or the width of the gun barrel. Calibre relates to barrel length; the higher
the calibre, the longer the barrel, and the longer its range. A third parameter
is chamber size, which determines how large a projectile can be fired from the
gun, and therefore how much damage a round can inflict on the target.

While most globally available
155-millimetre guns, including the French Nexter and Israeli Elbit guns the
military has evaluated, have a chamber capacity of 23 litres, ATAGS will have a
25-litre chamber. That would let it fire more high explosive onto the target
with each round.

In addition, that makes the ATAGS’s range
noticeably higher, especially while firing “extended range full bore” (ERFB)
ammunition, with which the range goes up to an astonishing 45 kilometres.

The ATAGS is the world’s only gun with a
six-round “automated magazine”, which lets it fire a six-round burst in just 30
seconds. Most other 155-mm, 52-calibre guns have three-round magazines, which
must be reloaded after firing three rounds.

Since most casualties are caused by
artillery in the initial burst of fire, when enemy soldiers are caught in the
open (and not after they dive into their trenches), a high “burst fire”
capability is an important attribute.

The ATAGS specifications also require it to
fire 60 rounds in 60 minutes in the “sustained fire” mode.

Another first in the ATAGS is its
all-electric drive, which replaces the comparatively unreliable hydraulic
drives in other towed guns. The ATAG’s all-electric drive operates its
automated mechanisms: ammunition handling, opening and closing the breech, and
ramming the round into the chamber.

These enhanced performance attributes have
increased the weight of ATAGS to 16 tonnes, a couple of tonnes heavier than
comparable towed guns. The army is willing to accept a heavier gun that
delivers significantly better performance.

Notwithstanding the army’s enthusiasm, the
ATAGS faces a stiff regimen of trials before entering service. In June, “range
and accuracy trials” will be conducted to evaluate its accuracy and its effect
on the target. Its performance will be evaluated in varying terrain conditions,
like deserts, plains, mountains and high altitude; both in summer and winter.
The gun’s mobility, and that of the Ashok Leyland tractor that tows it, will
also be evaluated. Maintenance evaluation trials (MET) will follow.

Traditionally, indigenous weapon projects
have been dominated by the DRDO. In ATAGS, however, the DRDO functions as a project
manager and concept designer, while private firms handle much of the systems
development. With the workload thus shared, the project is expected to escape
the delays that have bedevilled past projects that were exclusively handled by
an overloaded DRDO.

The Master Control Room at Abdul Kalam Island, counting down to an Agni-5 launch

By Ajai Shukla

DRDO Missile Complex, Hyderabad

Business Standard, 28th Dec 16

Ever since the Agni-5 intermediate range
ballistic missile (IRBM) was first tested on April 19, 2012, analysts worldwide
have speculated about when India would test its successor, the Agni-6 ---
presumptively India’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The Agni-5, which was successfully tested
on Monday to its maximum range of 5,000 kilometres (km), is not strictly an
ICBM. By convention, ICBMs have ranges in excess of 5,500 km. The Agni-5 is on
the cusp between IRBM and ICBM.

Speculation about the Agni-6 has only been
fanned by denials from top ministry of defence officials, including successive
Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) chiefs, about the existence of any project
to develop the ICBM.

“Agni-6? What is the Agni-6? I have not
heard of such a programme”, said a poker-faced DRDO chairman, Dr S Christopher,
to Business Standard.

With the continental United States and most
of Western Europe and Russia beyond the Agni-5’s strike range, there is little
worry in those capitals about New Delhi’s missile programme. This was evident in
June, when India was admitted into the Missile Technology Control Regime
(MTCR). However, an Indian ICBM programme that would place influential world
capitals at risk might be viewed differently. That is why the MoD’s official
position, as described by a senior official to Business Standard is: “There is no Agni-6 missile. Our strategic missiles
can already strike targets 300 - 5,000 km away. These missiles meet all our
strategic requirements.”

Despite the official denials, speculation
about an Agni-6 ICBM visualises a range of 6,000-7,500 km; a larger payload
capability than the Agni-5 to carry multiple independently targetable re-entry
vehicles (MIRVs); and even manoeuvrable re-entry vehicles (MARVs) to increase
survivability against enemy anti-ballistic missile systems.

Significantly, the last two DRDO chiefs, VK
Saraswat and Avinash Chander, publicly acknowledged having developed the
technologies that go into MIRVs and MARV. They said these could be quickly
operationalized when the government so decided.

As for extending the Agni-5’s range by
1,000 – 2,500 kilometres, a recent visit by Business
Standard to the DRDO’s Missile Complex in Hyderabad makes it evident that
on-going technology upgrades and incremental improvements in rocketry are
already increasing the range of the Agni-5 missile.

Even without a sanctioned government
project for the Agni-6, it seems inevitable that the Agni-5, over the next few
years, would organically evolve into an ICBM with improved technologies and
capabilities.

Chinese officials have always regarded the
Agni-5 as an ICBM, with some even stating it is capable of striking targets
8,000 km away.

A major factor towards greater range would be
the weight reduction in the 50-tonne Agni-5, as older, heavier sub-systems are
replaced by lighter, more reliable ones, including many made with lightweight
composite materials. A major development in this regard is the replacement of
hydraulic actuators in the Agni-5’s giant first stage with the
state-of-the-art, electro-mechanical actuators that already equip Stage-2 and
Stage-3.

Moving from hydraulic to electro-mechanical
actuators not only saves weight due to lightweight components, but also
eliminates problems like oil storage and leakage, and the need for an
accumulator. In addition, electro-mechanical actuators are more reliable and
easy to maintain.

Currently, the Agni-5 has a metallic first
stage, made of “maraging steel”, while the second and third stages are entirely
built from lightweight composites, which were first tested in the Agni-4 on 15
Nov 2011. Stage-1 components like high-temperature rocket motor nozzles are
already being made of composites. Gradually, the Agni-5 could become an
all-composite missile that is significantly lighter than at present.

“No major development is needed to upgrade
an Agni-5 into an ICBM. All that is needed is to improve materials to make the
missile lighter, with better propulsion”, says one scientist.

That would make the Agni-5, with an
estimated current cost of Rs 100 crore per piece, the world’s most
cost-effective ICBM. It could cost just one-third the price of an American
ICBM, as estimated by the respected Federation of American Scientists.

The total cost of the Agni-5 programme
remains secret. The Political Council of the Cabinet clears such classified
projects, not the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) that keeps records more
transparently. All sanctions relating to the Agni-5 project are done through
the fast track route.